Sky-Stream Launches New IP-TV Streaming Service
February 8, 2011
Sky-Stream FZ LLC, a Dubai-based provider of connectivity and satellite service solutions, has launched a satellite IP-TV streaming service over the iDirect platform. The recreational service, which utilizes the Apple TV platform, allows customers in the Middle East and Africa to immediately access on-demand programs in remote locations where such services are not accessible. iDirect is a world leader in satellite-based IP communications technology.
Sky-Stream’s IP-TV service provides on-demand, high-quality streaming for movies as well as news and sports shows offered through Apple TV. The new offering is an expansion of Sky-Stream’s standard Voice over IP (VoIP) and Internet service that it provides to military and civil defense customers in Iraq, Afghanistan and parts of Africa. With the launch of its recreational service, Sky-Stream hopes to acquire new customers in the maritime and oil and gas sectors in the Middle East. These customers will be able to access the service from any location, no matter how isolated.
The new service is powered by iDirect’s satellite platform, providing built-in TCP acceleration on an IP-based system that allows Sky-Stream to offer high download speeds to customers for immediate access to the programs they want. During development, Sky-Stream tested other satellite platforms and found average download times to be unacceptably slow — taking customers over an hour to download a full-length movie. With iDirect’s TDMA platform, Sky-Stream is able to overcome latency and other link reliability issues to reduce typical movie download times to as few as five minutes.
“In developing a TV-streaming service for the Middle East, it was critical that we were able to reach any location and provide on-demand access to a variety of bandwidth-intensive content at broadband speeds. Delivering the service over satellite solved the first requirement, but not necessarily the second. iDirect’s platform offers us what other satellite platforms couldn’t - high-quality, high-speed downloads that meet our customers’ expectations.” Riyadh Al Adely, General Manager, Sky-Stream.
